Drew
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Thread Prefixes allow you to apply pre-defined text to individual threads which is placed at the beginning of the thread title. The text can be styled to make it more prominent and easy to identify when viewing a list of threads.
Filtering and searching is supported, in addition to the prefix being present on the What's New page, Recent Activity feed and Alerts list, making them a useful complement to sub-forums, or an alternative option in some cases.
The prefix text is part of the thread title, allowing it to be indexed by search engines and appear in results.
Only a single prefix can be applied to a thread at one time.
Managing Thread Prefixes
Creating A Thread Prefix
To create a new Thread Prefix, click on the + Create New Thread Prefix button. You will be presented with a number of tabs which will now be explained.
Basic Information
The Title is the text that will be used for the prefix. There is no limit to the number of characters which can be used for a title, but obvious practicalities need to be taken into account. The prefix text does not count towards the thread title character limit.
The second and third pre-defined styles use the color palette, so the actual appearance will be determined by the colors set in the style in use.
The Display Styling will apply to the prefix title wherever it is shown throughout the forum.
There are several pre-defined styles which can be selected, and although the basic styling is different in each case, the hover style is the same for all.
There is the option of creating custom styling using CSS classes, allowing you to fully control the appearance. See the Custom Styling section for details.
The Thread Prefix Group option allows one or more prefixes to be grouped together, making organising and using prefixes easier. A prefix can only be in one group at a time.
Ungrouped prefixes display after prefix groups.
The Display Order determines the order of the prefix in relation to other prefixes within the same group; prefixes with lower values will display before, or above, those with higher values.
Forums and Permissions
This tab allows you to define which user groups can use the prefix and in which forums. It is not possible to configure different user group and forum combinations as the permission is applied to the prefix; separate prefixes must be created to achieve that level of granularity.
Creating A Thread Prefix Group
To more easily manage prefixes, you can utilize prefix groups. To create a new group click on the + Create New Thread Prefix Group button.
The configurable options are the Title, which is also displayed in the prefix selection menu when composing or editing a thread title, and the Display Order, which determines the order of the group in relation to other groups.
Quick-Set
The Quick-Set feature allows you to apply the same settings to one or more prefixes simultaneously.
Select a number of prefixes from the main list and click the Quick-Set Selected Itemsbutton. Clicking on a prefix group will select all of the prefixes in that group.
The subsequent overlay which appears enables you to base the settings on an existing prefix, or none of those selected. Clicking Proceed... will load the main prefix settings page, with any changes made being applied to all of the prefixes selected; individual prefixes can be selected or deselected at the top of the page.
Node Settings
An alternative method for setting which prefixes can be used in which forum can be done via the node configuration page.
Setting prefixes via the node options does not affect the user group settings for those particular prefixes.
Click on a forum node title in the node list, then on the Thread Prefixes tab, which will then allow you to select or deselect individual prefixes.
A default prefix can also be specified, which will automatically apply that prefix to any newly composed thread titles. It does not however prevent the prefix from being deselected or an alternative prefix from being used.
Custom Styling
The pre-defined prefix styling may not be suitable for the style in use and in addition, they all have the same hover style. There is however the option of using custom CSS which can be applied to any prefix.
To use this option, select Other, using custom CSS class name for the display styling. The relevant CSS classes must then be entered in the field directly below and defined in the EXTRA.css template.
The following example explains how to create a custom class with basic styling; more complex styling can be applied as desired.
First define the classes in the EXTRA.css template:
.prefix.prefixMyprefix1 {
color: white;
background-color: @primaryMedium;
border-color: @primaryDarker;
}
a.prefixLink:hover .prefix.prefixMyprefix1 {
color: black;
background-color: @primaryLighter;
border-color: @primaryLightish;
}
Then enter the class names in the custom field:
prefix prefixMyprefix1
The class names in the EXTRA.css template and the field must be identical, but when entering in the custom field there is no period (.) before each class name and they are separated by a space.
Additional classes can be created by changing the Myprefix1 element of the class name. Refer to this resource for further information.
Filtering And Searching
When viewing a forum, clicking on a prefix title in the thread list or selecting the prefix via the Thread Display Options will display only those threads from that specific forum with that prefix. The filter can be removed by clicking the X at the top of the thread list.
Searching on prefixes is possible by entering the search term in the Keywords field on the Search Threads and Posts tab of the main search page and selecting one or more prefixes.
Filtering and searching is supported, in addition to the prefix being present on the What's New page, Recent Activity feed and Alerts list, making them a useful complement to sub-forums, or an alternative option in some cases.
The prefix text is part of the thread title, allowing it to be indexed by search engines and appear in results.
Only a single prefix can be applied to a thread at one time.
Managing Thread Prefixes
- Log in to the Admin Control Panel.
- Select the Applications tab.
- Click on Thread Prefixes from the list on the left hand side.
Creating A Thread Prefix
To create a new Thread Prefix, click on the + Create New Thread Prefix button. You will be presented with a number of tabs which will now be explained.
Basic Information
The Title is the text that will be used for the prefix. There is no limit to the number of characters which can be used for a title, but obvious practicalities need to be taken into account. The prefix text does not count towards the thread title character limit.
The second and third pre-defined styles use the color palette, so the actual appearance will be determined by the colors set in the style in use.
The Display Styling will apply to the prefix title wherever it is shown throughout the forum.
There are several pre-defined styles which can be selected, and although the basic styling is different in each case, the hover style is the same for all.
There is the option of creating custom styling using CSS classes, allowing you to fully control the appearance. See the Custom Styling section for details.
The Thread Prefix Group option allows one or more prefixes to be grouped together, making organising and using prefixes easier. A prefix can only be in one group at a time.
Ungrouped prefixes display after prefix groups.
The Display Order determines the order of the prefix in relation to other prefixes within the same group; prefixes with lower values will display before, or above, those with higher values.
Forums and Permissions
This tab allows you to define which user groups can use the prefix and in which forums. It is not possible to configure different user group and forum combinations as the permission is applied to the prefix; separate prefixes must be created to achieve that level of granularity.
Creating A Thread Prefix Group
To more easily manage prefixes, you can utilize prefix groups. To create a new group click on the + Create New Thread Prefix Group button.
The configurable options are the Title, which is also displayed in the prefix selection menu when composing or editing a thread title, and the Display Order, which determines the order of the group in relation to other groups.
Quick-Set
The Quick-Set feature allows you to apply the same settings to one or more prefixes simultaneously.
Select a number of prefixes from the main list and click the Quick-Set Selected Itemsbutton. Clicking on a prefix group will select all of the prefixes in that group.
The subsequent overlay which appears enables you to base the settings on an existing prefix, or none of those selected. Clicking Proceed... will load the main prefix settings page, with any changes made being applied to all of the prefixes selected; individual prefixes can be selected or deselected at the top of the page.
Node Settings
An alternative method for setting which prefixes can be used in which forum can be done via the node configuration page.
Setting prefixes via the node options does not affect the user group settings for those particular prefixes.
Click on a forum node title in the node list, then on the Thread Prefixes tab, which will then allow you to select or deselect individual prefixes.
A default prefix can also be specified, which will automatically apply that prefix to any newly composed thread titles. It does not however prevent the prefix from being deselected or an alternative prefix from being used.
Custom Styling
The pre-defined prefix styling may not be suitable for the style in use and in addition, they all have the same hover style. There is however the option of using custom CSS which can be applied to any prefix.
To use this option, select Other, using custom CSS class name for the display styling. The relevant CSS classes must then be entered in the field directly below and defined in the EXTRA.css template.
The following example explains how to create a custom class with basic styling; more complex styling can be applied as desired.
First define the classes in the EXTRA.css template:
.prefix.prefixMyprefix1 {
color: white;
background-color: @primaryMedium;
border-color: @primaryDarker;
}
a.prefixLink:hover .prefix.prefixMyprefix1 {
color: black;
background-color: @primaryLighter;
border-color: @primaryLightish;
}
Then enter the class names in the custom field:
prefix prefixMyprefix1
The class names in the EXTRA.css template and the field must be identical, but when entering in the custom field there is no period (.) before each class name and they are separated by a space.
Additional classes can be created by changing the Myprefix1 element of the class name. Refer to this resource for further information.
Filtering And Searching
When viewing a forum, clicking on a prefix title in the thread list or selecting the prefix via the Thread Display Options will display only those threads from that specific forum with that prefix. The filter can be removed by clicking the X at the top of the thread list.
Searching on prefixes is possible by entering the search term in the Keywords field on the Search Threads and Posts tab of the main search page and selecting one or more prefixes.
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